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Undergraduate Research in Mathematics

We encourage students to pursue undergraduate research projects with faculty mentors. Projects can be based around any mathematical idea or problem that interests YOU, and faculty often have a few good ideas of their own for research projects. If you are interested in research, contact a faculty member and we'll get things started.

In the mathematics department, we view undergraduate research as a collaborative effort on a problem whose solution is unknown (even to the faculty mentor!). Ideally, the research process involves literature review, significant discoveries by the student, and ultimately, the public communication of results.

Committing to a research project is a valuable experience as it allows you to take the tools developed in class and apply them to real problems. Research demands equal parts perseverance and creativity, but the reward of finding something new on your own is great. Taking part in a research project is a privilege - many schools do not encourage undergraduate research the way that Shippensburg does.

Examples of research projects in the Mathematics Department

Below are some faculty members who have conducted research projects with students. If you see a topic that interest you, feel free to contact that faculty member about the possiblity of conducting similar research.

Maria Elena Markovich, "Generating Composites by Appending Digits to Certain Types of Integer." Maria presented her research at the Joint Mathematics Meetings 2013 in San Diego, CA in the AMS special session on Coverings of the Integers.

Research funding

Undergraduate Research Grants.
At the beginning of the fall semester, a call goes out for students to
apply for research funding. Each student (or student group) that
applies must have a faculty sponsor, and grant funding can cover
expenses like travel to conferences and poster printing. Applications
are due at the beginning of October. More information.

The Math Department Research Fund.
The math department maintains a small amount of money to help with
expenses like regional conference registration and poster printing, if
not already covered by an undergraduate research grant. Talk to your
research mentor or the math department chair to request these funds.

The Dean's Office.
If you have a large expense (like airfare to a national conference)
that is not covered by an undergraduate research grant, the Office of
the Dean might be able to help. Talk to your research mentor about applying for funding from the Dean.

PCTM. The PA Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Yearly conference in the fall semester.

NCTM. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Yearly conference in April.

MathFest. The annual national meeting of the MAA. This takes place at the beginning of August each year.

The Joint Mathematics Meetings. The largest annual mathematics conference in the world! Each year we have several faculty attend this meeting. Occurs in January, before classes resume.

The SIAM Annual Meeting. The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. Yearly national meeting in July. There is also an annual student conference for the mid-Atlantic region.

NIMBioS. An annual undergraduate research conference at the interface of biology and mathematics. Runs each fall.

Creating a poster

Some conferences may ask you to make a poster to display the results of your research. Here's some good advice about making posters. Your advisor can give you some poster templates suitable for math posters.